An old linguistics researcher is ousted from his university position on the frontier of a small island he acculturated. Upon his return home, he begins to believe that he and his life's work are marginal.

When a talented linguist makes contact with the Martian species and is invited into their inner circle, he uncovers a culturally rich civilization in danger of going extinct.

In Spain during the Francoist dictatorship, a girl's father insists that their family will never speak Spanish again in favor of Basque — a small act of political defiance that slowly changes their lives, until they can never go back.

A Polish immigrant feels her mind slipping away, as her surroundings and even her own body seem unfamiliar. After she's diagnosed with Alzheimers, she reflects on the importance of her memories and her past.

When a man visits an old village called Ain Tadouirt to visit an old friend and conduct research, he becomes captured by a tribe and forced to entertain. He must figure out how to escape a life of enslavement in a foreign land.

A daughter and a mother wonder what the lesson of their story is.

During a trip to Morocco, a writer meets a young boy destined for a tragic, inescapable life on the stage at the Dancing Boy.

An older Jewish man living in America becomes increasingly jealous of a fellow writer as his Yiddish poetry is continuously rejected by publishers, while his colleague's short stories are translated into English and earn him fame and success.

A teacher on the Lower East side meets a friendly man with a presence resembling a dead English poet.

An American writer travels to Sophia where he meets a famous poetess. He falls in love with her and her attitude.